


we need protecting (when we can't protect ourselves)

by eating_custardinbed



Category: IT Crowd
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Past, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Alternative Universe - Care Home, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Care System, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Deynholm runs the care home, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Foster Care, High School, Hurt/Comfort, IT WORKS OKAY - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Teenagers, Triggers, Weekly Updates, multi-chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eating_custardinbed/pseuds/eating_custardinbed
Summary: an IT Crowd foster care aupotential triggers, additional warnings will be at the start of each chapterupdates... well, i'm not sure yet. whenever pretty much. consider this a oneshot for now lol
Relationships: Jen Barber & Maurice Moss, Jen Barber & Maurice Moss & Roy Trenneman, Jen Barber & Roy Trenneman, Maurice Moss & Roy Trenneman, Maurice Moss/Roy Trenneman, Richmond Avenal & Jen Barber
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	we need protecting (when we can't protect ourselves)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jen starts her new life 
> 
> warning(s): mentions of abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i started another new project!! don't hate me lmao

“Early morning.” 

“Aye.” 

“Cold, too.” 

“Don’t wanna be out ‘ere.” 

“I kn-- cor, Brian! Look here!” 

“What?” 

“There’s a tent ‘ere!” 

“Look in, look in!” 

“Brian, it’s a kid!” 

“What?” 

“There’s a kid in here! A girl!” 

“Oh my God. Call the police…” 

***

The girl was still young, only fifteen or so. She had red hair and her clothes were tattered. She was covered in dirt. Since the two litter pickers had found her in her little orange tent she had barely spoken a word. Not to the police, not to the social worker, not to anyone. 

“Now, Jen, I’ve just made a few phone calls,” the social worker said as she entered the room. She came over and sat down on the small sofa next to the girl. Jen didn’t look up at her, instead pulling the blanket they had given her closer around herself and staring down at her knees. “And--”

“I’m not going back,” she said. Her voice was very quiet, almost inaudible, but it was enough for the social worker to hear her. 

“No, um, you don’t have to,” the worker said. At this Jen looked up. Her eyes were wide.

“They--” her voice cracked, and she had to take a moment. “They don’t want me back?” 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” the worker replied. “We’ve made arrangements for you to stay somewhere, okay?” 

“I don’t have to go back..” Jen murmured. She was clearly talking to herself here. Then she looked up, flew forward and wrapped her arms around the woman. The social worker froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Thank you.” 

“It’s okay, honey,” the woman said after a moment. Jen smiled at her as she let her go. “We’ll go and pick up your things soon, once you’re settled in.” 

“When are we going?” 

“There’s just a few more questions we want to ask, but then we’re going to head down there. Is that okay?” 

Immediately Jen nodded. The woman smiled at her before getting up and leaving the room again. Once she was gone, Jen let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t have to go back. Finally she had escaped that house, that horrible unassuming house. 

She was safe. 

***

The house was bigger than she’d thought it was going to be. With four floors that she could see, a big front door and a wide window, her curiosity was piqued as she and her social worker walked towards the building. Jen stood on her tiptoes, trying to peek through the front window, but the curtains were drawn and she couldn’t see in. She slumped down, dragging the big bag with all of her limited belongings behind her just a little more dejectedly than before. 

“I’ll be around tomorrow to see how you’re settling in,” the social worker said as the two of them stood on the front doorstep of the house. “But the people here are lovely, they really are.” 

“Do you know them?” Jen asked. 

“A few. Total sweethearts, every single one of them.” 

Jen smiled a little. Smiles had been coming to her rather easily in the past two weeks or so. Her and her social worker had been shopping, and for once she had been able to choose her own clothes. That had really made her smile. It was only Primark, but she would take this freedom over a fancy brand any day. 

The door in front of them opened. Strangely, they couldn’t see anyone there, but as soon as the door closed behind them a small person shot past them and disappeared up the stairs. Jen took in a deep breath. The place smelled slightly musty, but not unpleasant. She could hear muffled shouting from behind the living room door. The social worker laughed a little, going forward and knocking gently on the door. The shouting abruptly stopped, but just before the door opened and she could see who the voice belonged to, a man appeared out of the office at the end of the hall and called her name. 

She turned towards the sound of the voice. There was a man standing by an office door. He had a moustache and ridiculously gelled hair, and he wore a three-piece suit, but other than that he seemed kind of unmemorable. Quickly she scuttled forward towards him, doing her best not to trip over her own two feet. When she reached him, the man stood aside and gestured for her to enter the office. She did so. He shut the door behind them, and then came around to sit behind his desk. 

“Hello Jen,” the man said. His voice held no emotion. She bit her lip, shifting forward and taking a seat in front of the desk. As soon as she sat, the man began to stare at her. It was unsettling, but nothing she couldn’t deal with. She stared straight back at him until he broke his gaze and glanced quickly down at his desk before looking back up. “My name is Deynholm Reynholm. I’m the head of the house.” 

“Do you live here?” Jen asked before she could stop herself. Deynholm nodded. 

“I do.” 

“How many people live here?” 

“There’s twelve children here, three on each floor.” Deynholm paused for a moment. “We’re going to put you downstairs in the basement. There’s three boys down there, but you’ll have your own room and it’s the only space we have. I trust you got the information packet we sent you?” Jen nodded dumbly. Deynholm smiled, but it never reached his eyes. “Good. You should find your new roommates in the front room.” 

With that, Deynholm began to look over papers on his desk. Jen took this as her cue to leave. She stood, grabbing her bag and rushing out. The people in the living room? They were her new roommates? Oh God, she hoped whoever had been shouting in there wasn’t like that _all_ the time. Shaking her head quietly, she walked through the corridor and slipped into the living room. 

There were two boys sitting there on the carpet. There was a sofa (which the social worker was sitting on) but apparently they had decided that it wasn’t for them. The social worker was smiling at the boys. One of the boys, who was talking excitedly and hadn’t noticed her yet, was very pale, with dark brown greasy curly hair. His voice was distinctly Irish. His eyes were a bright sea blue. Next to him, propping himself up with one arm and looking intently at her, was another kid. He didn’t look quite as happy as his friend. His hair, which looked slightly wild, was parted at the side, which she found a little unusual. He wore chunky glasses. 

“...so we’re both in this room, and--” the Irish boy stopped here when his friend nudged him and pointed towards Jen. He looked up and over to her, his mouth falling open a little as he did so. The social worker turned too. She smiled at Jen. 

“All ready?” she asked. Jen nodded. The social worker nodded too, gathering her things and coming towards the door. She turned back towards the boys. “Well it was nice to see the two of you again. And _you_ \--” she pointed at the Irish boy, grinning cheekily. “Stay out of trouble!” 

The boy laughed and nodded, the social worker smiled and then she was gone. 

“Um, hi?” Jen said a little nervously, coming forward. The boys turned suddenly towards her, deers-in-headlights expressions plastered on their faces. Jen suppressed a sigh. It was looking like she was going to have to do all the work here. “I’m Jen. I don’t know if they told you about me, but apparently you guys are down in the basement and you’re my new roommates…?” 

“Roommate?” the Irish boy repeated. The other boy titled his head to the side, crinkling his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, roommate,” she said. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her phone and brandished it at them a little. “What’s the wifi password?” 

At this, the boys let out simultaneous sighs of relief. 

“Now _that_ we can help with,” the Irish boy said with a smile. He held his hand out to her, and she shook it a little warily. “I’m Roy and this,” he gestured towards the other boy, who was carefully writing something in a notepad he’d apparently procured from nowhere, “is Moss.” 

“Hi, Moss,” Jen said, flashing him a gentle smile. She wasn’t sure, something about this kid seemed… soft. He looked up at her, looking shocked. Hastily he handed her a slip of paper before getting up and speed walking out of the room. Jen watched him go in confusion. When she looked down at the paper, she realised it was the wifi password. She turned back to Roy. 

“Yeah, Moss doesn’t really talk…” Roy said. This was said both matter-of-factly and a little awkwardly. Jen gave him a confused look. 

“What, like ever?” 

“Not really. I’ve known him a year now and I’ve heard him speak… once? Maybe two or three times?” 

Jen nodded a little. As a gesture of goodwill, Roy reached forward and grabbed one of her bags before racing off down the corridor. Intrigued, Jen followed. “So how long have you been in the system?” Roy asked as he opened a small side door. Inside were some steps. They began to descend them. 

“Oh, erm, I’m new actually,” Jen said. She wasn’t sure whether to ask her next question or not, but curiosity quickly got the better of her. “What about you?” 

“On and off for pretty much as long as I can remember,” Roy said. This was said in a very matter-of-fact way, but Jen couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy deep down in the pit of her stomach.

“I’m sorry,” she said, almost out of habit. He shrugged, grinning at her. 

“Don’t be,” he said. “It’s better than being with them.” 

Jen decided not to ask any more about it. 

“Is it nice here?” she asked a little anxiously, changing the subject. Roy made a small noise. 

“I guess?” he said. “We older kids get a tenner a week each, curfew is okay, we all get decent phones paid for…” 

“What about the other people?”

“Well the first floor is the three younger kids. There’s two seven year olds and an eight year old. Then there’s three eleven year olds on Floor Two, three twelve year olds on Floor Three, and then a ten year old, a twelve year old and a fourteen year old on Floor Four.” 

“So you guys are the oldest?” 

“Yeah,” Roy replied. “I’m sixteen in October.” 

“Oh, you’re going into Year 11 too?” 

“Yup.” 

They smiled at each other. They were at the bottom of the stairs now. Roy opened the door, leading her in. It was a large room, and looked to Jen like it was supposed to be an office, except it had been converted into a large bedroom. There were posters all over the walls, and two single beds where she imagined desks would be. There was a television over at the side, with a few old games consoles connected to it, and an old battered sofa in front of it. By the beds were computer monitors. Off to the side was another room. Strangely enough there was a window in the room’s wall facing out, but there were blinds on it. She guessed this was her room. There was what looked like a kitchenette as well, and a red door, but she didn’t take too much notice of this. 

Moss was sitting on the bed closest to the door, scrolling through his phone. The computer on the strange sort of side-caddy on the cupboard next to the bed was also on. Roy smiled at him before going over to the side room, opening the door and putting down the bag of Jen’s that he was holding in there. Then he walked over and threw himself down on his bed. Jen stood at the edge of the room awkwardly. After a moment, Roy looked back up at her from his phone. 

“You okay?” he asked. 

“Y-yeah,” Jen stammered. She chuckled nervously, looking down at her shoes. “Sorry, this is all just very new.”

“You don’t have to keep apologisin’,” Roy said. Jen pursed her lips as she nodded, not raising her gaze. There was a pause. “Sorry, that was insensitive,” he said. His voice was much softer now. “What I mean is we get it. We’ve all been through it.” 

“Speaking of _‘all’_ ,” Jen cut in as she pushed her uneasy feelings to the side. “Deynholm said there was someone else down here? Another boy, he said?” 

“Person,” Roy corrected quickly. “Yeah, Richmond. If you’re lucky, you might get to see them before the full moon approaches.” 

Over on his side of the room, Moss let out a chuckle. Roy shot him a quick smile before looking back at Jen. “Look, unpack your stuff, I’ll make you a brew and then we’ll give you a tour, yeah?” 

Jen smiled and nodded. 

***

“And here is the kitchen!” 

“I know what a kitchen is, Roy,” she replied with a slight roll of her eyes. Roy gave a gentle nudge, smiling a little at her. 

“Hey, some kids don’t,” he said. “We had this one kid about a year and a half ago, when I was still new, who came here and he didn’t know what _anything_ was. His parents had never let him leave his bedroom.” 

“That’s awful,” she replied. He nodded, sighing. 

“He left after less than a month. Rumour was that he got put in a hospital somewhere.” 

Jen didn’t know what to say to that. She looked away, moving forward into the kitchen. 

“So, um, what are the… rules with food?” she asked. Her voice was quiet.

“Pretty much if you’re hungry, you can come grab something,” he replied. He came forward, leaning against the countertop. “Obviously don’t take the piss, but--”

Roy stopped talking, and Jen was very confused until she turned around and one of the younger kids was standing there. It was Ebony, one of the seven year olds Roy had told her about, and she was staring up at Jen. After a moment of Jen looking at her uncomfortably, Ebony shifted her gaze to Roy. 

“Moss is downstairs,” he said, his voice louder than normal. He accompanied this with what Jen vaguely recognised as sign language. Ebony nodded before turning and running off. Roy turned back to Jen. “She’s deaf. That’s why her parents abandoned her. Her and Moss get on well.” 

“Did you learn sign language to speak to her?” she asked. Cheeks flushing, Roy shook his head. 

“For Moss, actually,” he answered. “Ebony has hearing aids, but I didn’t realise until after I learned it that she prefers to talk like that.” 

“This is so weird…” Jen whispered. She walked around the admittedly small kitchen before looking back to Roy. “I never thought I would get out of there.” 

Roy gave her a warm smile. He pushed himself off the counter, coming over and gently putting an arm around her shoulders. 

“Welcome to Reynholm Industries.” 

“Reynholm Industries?”

“That’s the way he runs it.” 

Jen chuckled, shaking her head. Roy gave her a fond smile. “You’re gonna fit in just fine here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember all, updates are every friday!! please leave comments and/or kudos, they make me so happy!! thank you for reading
> 
> stay safe and happy, y'all xx


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